Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) Marine Biodiversity Hub

Project description

The CERF Marine Biodiversity Hub project is a collaborative research program funded by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts through the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) Program. The project will provide new data, information and tools to support the identification, assessment, conservation and sustainable use of Australia's marine assets.

Project partners are University of Tasmania (UTAS), CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR), Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Museum of Victoria (Mus Vic), Australian Fisheries Management, Authority (AFMA), Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), Commonwealth Fisheries Association, Sustainable Tourism CRC and World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

For the Geoscience Australia project team, the project involves working with project partners and stakeholders to:

• collate existing useful marine physical and biological datasets for selected areas of Australia's EEZ and strategically collect new data
• analyse this data to develop reliable physical surrogates of benthic habitats and biological communities that can be used to predict patterns of biodiversity in the Australian marine jurisdiction
• effectively communicate the results of this research, including access to products and datasets.

Project outcome

Increased availability and use of biodiversity information and resources in the management of Australia's marine biodiversity.

Project outputs

Development of a detailed work plan for the Surrogates Project that Geoscience Australia will lead. This output involves extensive collaboration as projects comprise staff from more than one partner organisation. Additionally, we will work closely with partners to develop the work plan for the Biodiversity and Prediction Projects, in which Geoscience Australia will also participate. This output includes the planning of field surveys with UTAS, CMAR, AIMS and the University of Wollongong. Stakeholder input will be sought in the planning process to ensure the relevance and uptake of the research results.

Key physical, oceanographic and biological datasets will be established for further analysis and integration. This will be undertaken in collaboration with the Prediction Project based at CMAR. This includes the collection of new data to fill key gaps and will involve field surveys with UTAS and the University of Wollongong.

Presentation of the results of the first year's work by Geoscience Australia project staff at the Annual Hub Workshop. The aim of the workshop is to review plans and progress, and assist in the development, communication and uptake of marine conservation tools among researchers, managers and other stakeholder groups.